Hamid Jumaa Hassan Alghizzi

I was born in Basra city, Iraq, which is adjacent to the Kuwaiti border. I am from Alghizzi tribe which is a sub tribe of Alfadhli tribe which is present across the region in particular Kuwait where many Bidoons from this tribe live. The most prominent Bidoon activists from this tribe is Abdulahakim Alfadhli and more others. Having tribal connections provides knowledge and insight into the history, social networks, connections, and the cultural and political landscape. This has placed me in an excellent position to navigate the complex aspects of Bidoons.

In 2002, I moved to the UK and completed my Master’s degree in Environmental Pollution Control at Birmingham City University in 2006. Subsequently, I worked as a researcher and an environmental advisor.

From 2012 to 2019, I worked as a freelance Arabic interpreter with a range of translation and interpreting agencies, as well as directly with many law firms. My primary focus has been working with immigration law firms specialising in immigration and asylum cases. I have accumulated over 10,000 hours of interpreting experience and have interpreted for more than 1,000 clients during their Asylum stages process including their appeal to the first -Tier Tribunals and Upper Tribunal and applications for fresh asylum claims. This work afforded me extensive experience and insight into the circumstances and plight of the Bidoon community, and significantly enhanced my knowledge of the historical and administrative measures implemented by the Kuwaiti authorities in relation to Bidoons.

Additionally, I have been working as an expert since early 2019. Many solicitors have consulted me, sought my advice, and requested that I prepare reports for their clients to be used as evidence in court. I have also provided consultations to the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD).

My boots were on the ground. I have undertaken multiple visits to Kuwait, including two documented visits in 2018 and 2019, which were specifically intended to observe and assess the living realities of Bidoon communities in their principal hometowns. I visited the towns and suburbs in which Bidoon live. I walked its streets and visited local shops. I documented the types of goods sold and prices and I also photographed Mosques, which are pivotal places for the community and I also stood by the gates of their schools. 

All of that has been documented with video and photographs, which had to be done discreetly in order to avoid adverse attention from the Kuwaiti security forces. I also visited places with known political activity, such as the famous Al-Huriyah Square where many Bidoon protests have taken place in addition to visiting Jawakhir Chabd area where many wanted Bidoons go into hiding.

I have conducted interviews with prominent Bidoon activists, including Abdulhakim Alfadhli, who is widely recognised by international organisations and whose activism and struggle are well documented in international reports and Home Office sources. 

I have also interviewed another prominent Bidoon activist named Abdullah Attalah via telephone while he was in hiding outside Kuwait, as he informed me at the time, due to being sought by the Kuwaiti authorities. 

Mr. Attalah is a well-known organiser of Bidoon protests, notably the protest of 18 February 2014, at which he was the principal speaker, and following which he was arrested the next day. His involvement in the protest and subsequent arrest have been documented in numerous international reports, including Home Office materials.

I was able to build on the knowledge gathered by my visits on my return to the UK, through continuous research and regular communication with my Bidoon contacts in Kuwait and in the UK. 

While in the UK, I continue with my “fact-finding mission” as I monitor, investigate, and interpret relevant developments, applying all that to the experience I have built over many years. I have also collected various collateral reports from national and international organisations and media sources (Kuwait and non-Kuwait), such as newspapers, TV, and official government statements for the Kuwaiti website.